


Dreamboat Fudge & The Broken Friendship

by accio_broom



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:00:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29819772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/accio_broom/pseuds/accio_broom
Summary: Dolores Umbridge and Sybill Trelawney are best friends. Dolores is hoping for an invite to the leaver’s ball from Cornelius Fudge. Unfortunately, he decides to invite Sybill, severing their bonds of friendship forever.
Relationships: Sybill Trelawney & Dolores Umbridge
Comments: 3
Kudos: 1
Collections: International Wizarding School Competition - Ilvermorny





	Dreamboat Fudge & The Broken Friendship

**Author's Note:**

  * For [honouraryweasley12](https://archiveofourown.org/users/honouraryweasley12/gifts).



> Story Title/Link: Dreamboat Fudge and the Broken Friendship  
> School & Theme: Ilvermorny: Infighting  
> Mandatory Prompt: [Emotion] Fear  
> Additional Prompt(s):  
> 1\. [First/last line] The madness in her/his/their eyes was an inspiration.  
> 2\. [Dialogue] “This is going to sound controversial, but I think that went well.”  
> Special Rule: [Platonic Pairing] Sybill Trelawney / Dolores Umbridge  
> Year: 6  
> Word Count: 3092
> 
> This is dedicated to HonoraryWeasley who gave me the idea, then let me go a little crazy with it.

_ The madness in his eyes was an inspiration. _

Dolores Umbridge felt her eyes glaze over as she watched Cornelius Fudge pace across the front of the classroom. She felt nothing but admiration for the man. He was passionate, gesticulating wildly as he spoke, and his light brown hair was growing more and more dishevelled every time he pushed a hand through it. His brown eyes sparkled with excitement as he spoke. He barely stopped for breath, and Dolores wondered how he had enough stamina to keep up with his constant stream of argument.

“How have I never noticed this man before?” Dolores whispered as she nudged her best friend, Sybill, rolling her eyes as the blonde witch stirred from her nap. She looked around quickly before she finally caught sight of Cornelius in front of them. She shrugged.

“That’s Cornelius Fudge. He’s a Ravenclaw. Don’t you think his belt is bright enough to be seen from Glasgow?” Sybill chuckled before letting her head drop back onto the desk.

Dolores raised her eyebrows as she spotted the bright orange belt sitting around his portly waist. It was an interesting fashion choice, though it did nothing to deter Dolores’ fond feelings for the man. 

Cornelius continued to wax lyrical about the benefits of creature segregation, a topic Dolores firmly agreed with. Suddenly, she was ever so thankful that she had managed to persuade Flitwick to set up the after-class debate club. Not all activities should be sports or game-related, after all.

Dolores  _ loved _ politics, rules and sanctions, and debating about them with the school’s mindless clones got her all heated up in the most pleasant of ways. It seemed she had finally found her perfect match in Cornelius Fudge. 

He was the entire package—good looking, not too tall, and they both held a shared belief that all creatures and beings had their place in the world.

She wanted nothing more than to discuss Cornelius’ virtues with Sybill Trelawny, but she didn’t want to wake her best friend  _ again _ . So, she decided to keep her thoughts to herself, for now, and enjoy them in secret.

⁂

Dolores and Sybill were an unlikely pairing.

Neither girl was popular, and that was what first pushed them together. They’d discovered each other studying alone in the library and decided to join forces since they were in the same classes anyway. They’d been inseparable ever since, despite the fact they were in different houses.

Sybill Trelawney was eccentric and theatrical. She adorned her school robes with non-regulation chains, beads and flowers, and her large glasses magnified her eyes, making her look like an owl. In comparison, Dolores Umbridge was straight-laced. She wore her uniform according to the guidelines they had been provided in their Hogwarts welcoming letter seven years ago and had never deviated from it. She enjoyed policies and statutes, whereas Sybill thrived in the unknown.

Yet, they balanced each other out—the ying to each other’s yang. For every ethereal declaration of doom Sybill uttered, Dolores counteracted with evidence—sometimes in support of her dotty friend’s extravagant assertions, but, more often than not, debunking them.

⁂

An hour later the pair left the classroom, Sybill stretching and rubbing her eyes under her massive glasses. It had already been a long day, and they still had Potions revision to complete after dinner. Their N.E.W.T exams were looming, and their work-loads were ever-increasing.

“Were you awake when Cornelius demolished Smith’s idea that house-elves should be  _ free _ ?” Dolores tittered as they wove their way through the moving staircases down to the Great Hall. “What a ridiculous notion. They only exist to serve, and they enjoy it. Why should we take that away from the poor creatures?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Sybill absentmindedly danced her fingers over the handrail as they waited for the last staircase to slot into place. “It was all rather droll, and I found my attention slipping pretty quickly. Let the elves be what they want to be. The only creatures I have an issue with are Centaurs and the vague way they use the stars,” she scoffed and stepped out into the grand entranceway.

They parted ways at the door to the Great Hall, each girl moving to their respective house table. Dolores rested her head on her hand as she listened to Dumbledore make the usual daily announcements. She had almost tuned out entirely until the old fool mentioned something about a ball. 

Dolores shot up in her seat. The Leavers Ball was to be held on the 30th of June, the day after their final exams. 

Her heart started to pound in her chest—this could be her last chance to make an impact on the school. She could write to her father and ask for some money to buy some new dress robes. Maybe she could even go with Cornelius.

Dumbledore sat back down, and food started to appear on the long wooden tables. She let her eyes drift over to the Ravenclaw table. Fortunately, Cornelius had chosen to sit by Sybill this evening. Dolores delighted in watching the way he chewed his food and the way he threw his head back as he laughed at a joke. His neck was short, but the curve of it was appealing, and she wondered what it might feel like to press kisses along it.

Dolores noticed movement from Cornelius’s side. She shifted her gaze just in time to spot Sybill finish loading her plate with food. The blonde witch picked it up and got to her feet, weaving her way around the tables and students before plonking herself down next to her best friend. She reached within her robes, and with a quick glance at the staff table, pulled a metal hip flask from the depths of the material and poured a quick sniff of sherry into two goblets.

“So, are you excited about the ball?” Sybill tucked into her food eagerly. For someone so petite and waiflike, she could eat like a mountain troll.

“Yes,” Dolores started on her own meal. “For the last six years, I’ve gone unnoticed, and I’m a bit fed up with it. This ball is a great chance for me to show the Wizarding World just how worthy of their time and attention I am.”

“I don’t think you’re unworthy.” Sybill blinked at her.

“Of course you don’t, dear. But you were not there when Slughorn called me an idiotic woman in front of the entire house.” Dolores threw a scathing look at her Head of House. “And to not name  _ me  _ Prefect and therefore ruining my chances of being Head Girl,” she scoffed. “I tell you, Horace Slughorn will rue the day he crossed me! And don’t get me started on the others. McGonagall and Dumbledore are both a waste of space!”

“I like them,” Sybill sighed wistfully. “I think they’re okay, and we’ve learnt a lot from them.”

“Poppycock! We’ve learnt fanatical things—nothing about  _ theory _ or  _ applied _ magic. Sure, we can perform the right charms, but what about  _ why  _ we do them? When I’m Minister for Magic, you better believe I will be making changes around here!”

Sybill’s attention had turned back to her best friend, and Dolores knew what the girl was thinking. Sybill’s aspirations for her own career post-school were minimal, and it worried Dolores that Sybill was okay with that. There was no way Dolores would be able to leave school without a plan. 

She had never told Sybill, but as their time left at school dwindled, Dolores had developed a fear that being unpopular and unimportant would continue into her adult life.

Suddenly, her stomach lurched disgustingly, and she pushed her plate away from her. What if Cornelius didn’t like her the way she wanted him to? The action did not go unnoticed by Sybill. 

“Are you okay? Are you done eating?”

Dolores concentrated hard on stopping her hand from shaking. She could proudly say that not many things scared her. She was headstrong, unafraid of confrontation and very aware of the power that her position in life should give her. 

Her Pureblood father had a heavy influence on her life before she had started school, and the pair of them had been inseparable. It had been overbearing for her Muggle mother, and before Dolores had turned fifteen, her mum had left, taking her Squib son with her.

“Oh, yes. I just remembered I had an owl from my father that I haven’t responded to yet. If he doesn’t hear from me, you know he’ll be up here, pounding on the door and demanding Dumbledore lets him in…”

“Well, if it helps, I haven’t foreseen him appearing in Hogsmeade, so the pressure is off,” Sybill smirked and downed the last of her goblet before pushing herself up from the table. “Library?”

Dolores nodded in agreement, grateful for Sybill’s attempts to distract her, even if she fully didn’t understand what she was distracting her from. Only last year, Dolores admitted how her father’s unbearable pressure drove her to regular nightmares and impacted every decision she had made since she was young.

It was why, Dolores realised, she felt sick when she thought that Cornelius may not harbour the same feelings as she did. The worst thing in the world, she thought, was to be rejected. Yet, still, it happened to her almost every day. If Cornelius turned her down, too, she didn’t know what she would do.

⁂

With every passing day, Dolores grew more terrified that her dream of turning up to the ball on Cornelius Fudge’s arm was disappearing. Every time she saw him in the corridor, her heart started to pound against her ribcage, and she found herself growing tense. 

At night, Dolores struggled to sleep as irrational thoughts raced through her mind. Maybe she wasn’t good enough for him. It was undeniable that Cornelius was destined for great things from how he acted in class and debate club. His opinions were outstanding, and he wasn’t afraid to speak out about them, even if they weren’t the most popular.

Of course, she could approach him herself, but the fear of rejection paralysed her every time she tried. If she opened her mouth to speak to him, she might have puked.

“Hey, Dolores, earth to Umbridge,” Sybill was grinning at her. “I thought people called  _ me  _ the space cadet!” Luckily, they were in History of Magic, and as per usual, Professor Binns was not paying any attention to his bored students.

Dolores shook her head and dragged her eyes away from Cornelius. It would do no good to let a man derail her studies, especially not whilst the end was so close.

⁂

Another day later, Dolores found herself waiting outside the Ravenclaw Tower for Sybill. The door opened, and a figure stepped out, but it wasn’t her friend. It was  _ him _ . 

Dolores suddenly found herself growing faint as her cheeks flushed red. Maybe she didn’t need to wait for him to ask; perhaps she could invite him to the ball as her date.

The door closed behind him, and she swallowed heavily. This was her moment. If she left it too long, it would be gone, and with the days passing quickly, she might never get another chance. 

Dolores started to move, but her feet were glued to the floor. Bile burnt from her stomach, and she clamped her hand over her mouth. She didn’t want to vomit, especially not in the corridor in front of everyone. But by the time her head stopped spinning, he was disappearing around the corner.

Once again, Dolores had let her fear of rejection control her life and steal a delightful opportunity from her.

⁂

Dolores felt Sybill link arms with her as they left the Great Hall a week later. She didn’t feel any relief with their Defence Against the Dark Arts exam out of the way, and she wouldn’t be surprised if she’d completely messed it up. 

There were only five days until the ball, and she’d all but given up hope that she was going to be asked. The new pink robes glittering in her dormitory would be all for nothing.

She was so consumed in her misery that she didn’t hear the sound of hers and Sybill’s name being called until Sybill stopped walking. In fact, she had almost carried on without her best friend by her side. She turned to see what the hold-up was with a heavy sigh, her stomach once again twisting in fear as she spotted Cornelius hurrying towards them.

“Well, that was a tricky exam, wasn’t it? I think I did okay. Enough for an ‘E’, I hope.” He chuckled nervously as he played with a button at the top of his school robes. He smoothed out his lime-green collar nervously. “The ball is coming up. Have you got a date yet?”

Dolores’ words caught in her throat, almost choking her. Joy travelled through her body, and she felt light all of a sudden. Her heart raced, and her palms turned sweaty.

Luckily, Sybill spoke up first and keenly, her ethereal tones almost soothing Dolores. “I’ve decided not to bother with a date. I’ve seen it in my tea leaves that I’m destined for greater things at this party. Dolores, on the other hand—”

Cornelius interrupted Sybill quickly. 

_ Good, _ Dolores thought.  _ Sometimes she says the craziest of things, and I wouldn’t want Cornelius tarring me with the same brush _ .

“Ah, well. That’s a real shame because I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?”

Dolores couldn’t believe it was happening. Sure, he’d waited until the last minute, but that just made things even better. It would be a more impressive story to tell. 

She lifted her head from where she had been staring at her standard black school shoes and risked a glance at Cornelius, only to feel her heart stop dead as he gazed, almost slack-jawed, at Sybill. 

It was painfully clear to Dolores that the question had been asked of her best friend and not her.

“Wait. What?” Dolores exclaimed at the exact same moment that Sybill nervously accepted Cornelius’ invitation. “No. No way. This can’t possibly be!”

Dolores saw red. Her hands curled into fists at her sides, and her nostrils flared. She tried her best to keep her voice low and calm, but the rising anger was bubbling from deep inside her stomach, working against her. 

Sybill had betrayed and humiliated her and in front of the rest of their year no less. Dolores wondered just how she’d managed to remain friends with Sybill Trelawney for so long. The girl was a flouncy waif who believed in things that were not there. How the hell could Cornelius choose Sybill over Dolores?

_ I can’t believe they’re standing there, _ she thought,  _ making plans and breaking my heart. How dare they? _

Dolores wanted to run; she wanted to hit out at the pair of them and hex them apart. But yet again, she was paralysed as her worst fear came true—she was, yet again, being rejected.

It all became too much for Dolores. Before she knew what was happening, a blood-curdling scream escaped her lips and echoed around the entrance hall. She pulled at her carefully coiffed hair. She knew she looked like a mad-woman, but she didn’t care anymore. The betrayal was just too much.

“You!” She rounded on her former best friend, spitting at her. 

Her heart was pounding with an endless rage; she could hear the thump of it in her ears. She jabbed her wand straight at Sybill’s chest. 

“How dare you betray me this way!” Dolores screamed.

Sybill’s eyes grew wider as the realisation hit her, and her face turned pale. Yet her shock did nothing to quell Dolores’ fury. It was too late for apologies.

“Dolores, I didn’t realise…” Sybill trailed off, a desperate look on her face.

Neither girl had discussed their shared love for Cornelius Fudge. They had both been too wrapped up in their own infatuation to realise the other was feeling the same. For two that had been so close, something this small was now tearing them apart.

“Did you not see this happening in one of your stupid crystal balls? Didn’t you read it in the stars?” Dolores scoffed. “You’re supposed to be a  _ Seer _ , for Merlin’s sake.”

Sybill tried her best to respond, but Dolores didn’t want to hear any of it. The woman’s fairy-like voice grated on her now, when once it had brought comfort. 

“Stop it! We’re done. History. How could I have ever considered being a friend to such a  _ fraud _ !”

Sybill shrunk away from Dolores, and she knew she’d hit the right nerve. Over the years, Dolores and Sybill had spent hours sitting at the top of the Astronomy Tower or by the side of the Great Lake and discussed how awful it made Sybill feel when people rubbished her prophecies and beliefs. Divination was her passion—she was a descendant of the great Cassandra Trelawney, after all.

Dolores felt no regret. 

“Do not speak to me again. Do not sit next to me in class. Do not write to me, or Floo me, or even dare to breathe in the same space as me. I will hex you so far into the future that someone may finally believe the stories you like to spin!”

Dolores gave her ex-best friend one last icy glare before storming off. 

She barely got a foot away from them before she heard Cornelius mutter. “This is going to sound controversial, but I think that went well. At least you no longer have to be friends with that toad…”

The words cut Dolores like a burning knife. It was the icing on the cake. Cornelius’ harsh words sealed the fate of their once blooming friendship.

Sybill did nothing to defend her once best friend, and that made the pain even worse. Dolores suppressed a sob and hurried towards the dungeons and the safety of her dorm room.

⁂

As soon as her final exams were done, Dolores Umbridge packed her bags and left Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry for good. It had been an unsuccessful seven years, and she was going without any stories of romance or stolen corridor kisses, without adventure or the respect of her Professors and without any friends. She hoped she never saw Sybill Trelawney, Cornelius Fudge, or that damn castle ever again.


End file.
